Christianity

Alister E. McGrath is Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. One of the world's leading theologians, he has written numerous critically acclaimed books, including Why God Won't Go Away: Engaging the New Atheism (2011), Darwinism and the Divine: Evolutionary Thought and Natural Theology (Wiley, 2011), and The Intellectual World of C. S. Lewis (Wiley, 2013). He is also the author of some of the most widely used theology textbooks, including the bestselling Christian Theology: An Introduction, now in its fifth edition (Wiley, 2010), Historical Theology: An Introduction (2nd edition; Wiley, 2012), and Theology: The Basics (3rd edition; Wiley, 2011).

• Preface xiiList of Illustrations and Maps xiiiIntroduction 11 Jesus of Nazareth and the Origins of Christianity 3The Significance of Jesus of Nazareth for Christianity 3The Sources of Our Knowledge about Jesus of Nazareth 5Jesus of Nazareth in His Jewish Context 7The Gospels and Jesus of Nazareth 9The Birth of Jesus of Nazareth 10The Early Ministry of Jesus of Nazareth 13The Teaching of Jesus of Nazareth: The Parables of the Kingdom 15The Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth 17The Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth 19Events and Meanings: The Interpretation of the History of Jesus 21The New Testament Understandings of the Significance of Jesus 22Jesus of Nazareth and Women 25The Reception of Jesus of Nazareth outside Judaism 262 The Christian Bible 28The Old Testament 30Major Themes of the Old Testament 32The creation 32Abraham: Calling and covenant 32The exodus and the giving of the Law 33The establishment of the monarchy 36The priesthood 37Prophecy 37Exile and restoration 38The New Testament 40The gospels 41The New Testament letters 44The fixing of the New Testament canon 45The Christian Understanding of the Relation of the Old and New Testaments 47The Translation of the Bible 49The Bible and Tradition 513 Christian Creeds and Beliefs 54The Emergence of Creeds 55What Is Faith? 59Faith and reason 61Can God’s existence be proved? 63The Christian Understanding of God 65Christian analogies for God 66God as Father 67A personal God 69God as almighty 71God as spirit 72The doctrine of the Trinity 74God as the creator 78The Christian Understanding of Humanity 82Humanity and the “image of God” 83Humanity, the fall, and sin 84Jesus of Nazareth 86Early Christian approaches to the identity of Jesus of Nazareth 87The Arian controversy and the incarnation 88The incarnation: The Chalcedonian definition 89Jesus of Nazareth as mediator between God and humanity 90Islamic criticisms of the Christian understanding of Jesus of Nazareth 91The Christian Understanding of Salvation 92New Testament images of salvation 93Christ the victor: The defeat of death and sin 94Christ the harrower of hell: Atonement as restoration 96Christ the redeemer: Atonement as satisfaction 98The death of Christ as a perfect sacrifice 99Christ the lover: Atonement and the enkindling of love 100Salvation and the “threefold office of Christ” 101Grace 102The Pelagian controversy of the fifth century 103The Reformation debates of the sixteenth century 105The Church 106The unity of the church 106The holiness of the church 107The catholicity of the church 109The apostolicity of the church 110The Sacraments 112What is a sacrament? 112The function of sacraments 113Debates about baptism 115Debates about the eucharist 116The Christian Hope 117The New Testament and Christian hope 117The nature of the resurrection body 118Christian burial or cremation? 119Conclusion 1204 Christian History: An Overview 121The Early Church, c. 100–c. 500 122The apostolic age 122Early Christianity and the Roman empire 123Early Christian worship and organization 125Women and early Christianity 127The conversion of the Emperor Constantine 129The cities and the rise of monasticism 131The fall of the Roman empire 133The Middle Ages and the Renaissance, c. 500–c. 1500 135The development of Celtic Christianity 135The rise of the monastic and cathedral schools 137The “Great Schism” between East and West (1054) 138The crusades: Spain and the Middle East 139Academic theology: The rise of scholasticism 141Secular and religious power in the Middle Ages 142Popular religion: The cult of the saints 143The rise of the Ottoman empire: The fall of Constantinople (1453) 145The rebirth of western culture: The Renaissance 146Competing Visions of Reform, c. 1500–c. 1650 148Christian expansion: Portuguese and Spanish voyages of discovery 149The Lutheran Reformation 151The Calvinist Reformation 153The Radical Reformation (Anabaptism) 154The Catholic Reformation 155The Reformation in England 156The Council of Trent 157The Society of Jesus 158The Wars of Religion 158Puritanism in England and America 159A Protestant religion of the heart: Pietism 160American Protestantism and the Great Awakening 162The Modern Period, c. 1650–1914 163The rise of indifference to religion in Europe 164The Enlightenment: The rise of rationalism 164Christianity in the American Revolution 166Church and state in America: The “wall of separation” 167The French Revolution and “dechristianization” 168Orthodox resurgence: The Greek War of Independence 169A new expansion of Christianity: The age of mission 170The shifting fortunes of Catholicism 173The First Vatican Council: Papal infallibility 175Theological revisionism: The challenge of modernism 176The Victorian crisis of faith 177Pentecostalism: The American origins of a global faith 179The Twentieth Century, 1914 to the Present 180The Armenian genocide of 1915 181The Russian Revolution of 1917 182America: The fundamentalist controversy 184The German church crisis of the 1930s 186The 1960s: The emergence of a post-Christian Europe 188The Second Vatican Council: Reform and revitalization 189Christianity and the American Civil Rights Movement 191Faith renewed: John Paul II and the collapse of the Soviet Union 192Challenging the church’s establishment: Feminism and liberation theology 194Christianity beyond the West: The globalization of faith 196Conclusion 1985 Denominations: Contemporary Forms of Christianity 199Catholicism 199Eastern Orthodoxy 203Protestantism 205Anglicanism 206The Baptists 207Lutheranism 209Methodism 209Presbyterianism and other reformed denominations 211Pentecostalism 212Evangelicalism 213The Ecumenical Movement and the World Council of Churches 214The Erosion of Protestant Denominationalism in the United States 216Conclusion 2186 The Life of Faith: Christianity as a Living Reality 220Gateways to Exploring the Life of Faith 220Christian Communities: The Life of the Church 222Christian weddings 222Christian funerals 223The Service of Nine Lessons and Carols 225Christian Worship 226Prayer 228Praise 229The public reading of the Bible 229Preaching 230The reciting of the creeds 230The Sacraments 231Baptism 232The eucharist 234Rhythms and Seasons: The Christian Year 236Advent 238Christmas 238Epiphany 239Lent 240Holy Week 241Easter 243Ascension 245Pentecost 245Trinity 245The Structuring of Time: The Monastic Day 246The Structuring of Space: Pilgrimage and the Christian Life 247Conclusion 2507 Christianity and the Shaping of Culture 251Christianity and Culture: General Considerations 252Christian Symbolism: The Cross 256Christian Art 259Icons 262Church Architecture 263Stained Glass 268Christian Music 270Christianity and Literature 271Christianity and the Natural Sciences 275Conclusion 277Conclusion: Where Next? 278Further Reading 280Sources of Quotations 284Index 291